


"Can I Hold Your Hand?"

by impulse_baker



Series: 100 Ways to Say 'I Love You' [19]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Comfort, Dean Winchester Comforts Castiel, Dean is a Sweetheart, Dentists, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 20:27:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13795698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impulse_baker/pseuds/impulse_baker
Summary: Dean takes Cas to the dentist. Turns out to be a lot scarier than he thought. Fluff ensues.





	"Can I Hold Your Hand?"

Cas and Dean agreed on many things. Really, they agreed on most things and the things they didn’t agree on, they respectfully, stubbornly, stood their ground and grumbled about them individually. That didn’t mean that they didn’t go at it and argue. Castiel liked to call it _debating_ but Dean would scoff and insist on calling it what it was.

“Humanity is not that bad, Dean. There is so much goodness that comes with being human that other species cannot fathom.”

“No way. I would take being a freaking mojo-ed up angel over being human. Humans can’t fly or heal themselves or anyone else. Not instantly, anyway. We can be killed by pretty much anything. And angels don’t have to worry about hygiene and shit.”

“True. Angels do not have to worry about having to ‘shit’.” Cas said the last word with air quotes and an amused quirk of his lips.

The hunter pursed his lips and cocked a brow. “Ok, smart ass, but yeah. That’s another plus to being an angel, see? The pros completely outweigh the cons here. Humans have so many stupid things we have to worry about and go through.”

“Like what? Other than the annoyance of having to answer the calls of your excretory system?”

Dean thought for a moment, as if he were coming up with the very worst of mortality.

“Needing money to buy things to live.”

“I will agree with you on this. Earning a livable income is difficult, especially with no prior experience.”

Dean hated that Cas knew what that was like firsthand, but he was in a constant state of holding guilt inside over that, so it wasn’t much of a difference from his baseline.

“You know what else sucks? Getting sick. Going to the doctor. Oh and fucking dentist appointments are hellish.”

“Dean. Are you really going to stand by your comparison between Hell, where souls are subject to the worst torture for eternity, and a teeth cleaning procedure?”

“You’ve never had a root canal, man. Satan couldn’t have even come up with that shit.”ou

Castiel looked entirely unimpressed. “Would you like to wager a bet?”

Dean wasn’t sure how smart it was to bet against a former commander of legions of angels, but he also wasn’t one to back down from a challenge. Even if it was probably much wiser to step off.

“Sure. What’s up for grabs?”

“Pride?”

Dean gasped dramatically and put a theatrical hand over his chest. “One of the seven deadly sins? I couldn’t let my angel fall so low!”

He let that little word slip out so naturally, he wasn’t even aware of his mistake until it was out of his mouth. Cas, thankfully, said nothing about it, and the only indication that he caught Dean’s meaning was the momentary, barest of creases at the corners of his eyes.

“Please. I’ve done worse to be scandalized over. But perhaps you could come up with some other prize? Anything at all.”

Dean’s mind was reeling with the possibilities that _anything_ presented, but he couldn’t think of anything good enough or _good_ _enough_ , so he just shrugged.

“I’ll come up with something when I win.”

“To make it fair, I will suppress my Grace, but even then, your confidence is overestimated.”

 

 

Their trip to the dentist was a process. Sam helped them get Cas on a fake dental insurance plan and everything, but let Dean make the actual appointment. His younger brother’s smug, knowing looks were pointedly ignored. He could practically hear him going on in his head about the pair’s shenanigans.

They were luckily able to schedule an appointment for the following Tuesday, and the days leading up to that fateful day were filled with small and friendly jibes and taunts about what was to come. Dean had no idea what Cas would want, in the instance that he was able to get through a routine cleaning and check mentally unscathed, and quite honestly the suspense was killing him. His imagination had conjured up every possible situation, from the most ridiculous to the most raunchy. Tuesday seemed years away.

 

They made casual banter on the drive there, but the heavy competitiveness hung in the air, and while neither of them addressed it, their shared side glances said it all.

Dean helped Cas with the check-in process, helpfully chiming in to provide all the needed information for the new patient forms. While they waited, they flipped through home and garden magazines and did word crosses together. It was all very domestic, and when his angel was called in for his turn and Dean automatically stood up to go with him, he didn’t hesitate to reply in the affirmative when the nurse asked if they were married.

“We prefer if only family and spouses went in with the patient. Are you his husband?”

“Sure am. He gets nervous with loud noises, so you know, gotta be there.” For added effect he threw an enthusiastic arm around Cas’ shoulders.

The nurse smiled and led them to a room where she took x-rays of his angel’s mouth. So far, Cas was taking it all in stride, though his eyes were deceiving his surprise and confusion at some of her directions. His puzzled look whenever she would ask him to open his mouth only to bite back down on the slightly readjusted wedge of rubber in his mouth made Dean have to stifle his laughter a little. It was adorable. He wasn’t made of stone.

She led them to a room with a large leather examination chair and instructed Cas to sit and get comfortable while she fastened the paper bib around his neck.

Then came the poking and picking and scraping and stabbing, as Cas would refer to it later. There were now two other people in the room, one with her fingers all inside his angel’s mouth and the other at the computer typing and asking questions in a pleasant sing-sing rasp.

Castiel’s eyes were scrunched tight and his hands were balled up into fists at his sides, his knuckles turning white. The hygienist and tech picked up on his tension and paused a few times to tell him to relax and try and ease his obvious stress, but his strained posture kept up, and Dean was actually feeling pretty bad at this point, but all he could find in himself to say were a few weak encouragements.

_Help him out, you coward._

Once the initial examination was done, the nice ladies left and told them that Dr. Garcia would be in shortly.

Dean rolled his chair over right next to Cas’ side and put a hand on his arm.

“Cas, I’m so sorry, man. I can tell you don’t like this, I’m so sorry. We can just leave now if you want, like seriously – ”

“This reminds me of Naomi’s chair.”

_Shit, what?_

“When she was…working on me, she restrained me to a chair like this. And…those dental tools are eerily similar to some of the supplies she kept.”

Dean’s insides were set ablaze and he hated himself and he hated Naomi and he hated all of fucking Heaven and Earth.

“But I will stay for the rest of the appointment.”

“Cas, you don’t need to do that.”

“Yes, I do, Dean.”

There were times when words they spoke to each other meant more than the actual words. This was one of those times. And so, Dean did only what he thought he could do.

“Can I hold your hand?”

He grazed his fingers over Cas’ knuckles and when he finally unclenched them and put his palm facing outwards, Dean laced their fingers together, and before he lost all nerve, he brushed his lips over their joined hands.

The doctor was understanding of Cas’ anxiety and she just smiled behind her mask every time she warned Cas about a new sound or a new instrument she was introducing to his mouth. Dean never let go of his hand, even when it got sweaty and warm.

 

They didn’t mention the bet when they left. They didn’t mention the fact that they hadn’t stopped holding hands until they reached the Bunker.

Things unsaid were more important.

**Author's Note:**

> Like the rest of the fandom I went absolutely bonkers when Dean casually mentioned that he went to the dentist with Cas and I needed more information. The writers of the show will not provide, so I had to use my imagination.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this! Let me know what you think!
> 
> Previous work: "Here Drink This, You'll Feel Better."  
> Next work: "You Can Borrow Mine."


End file.
